Leo Kanell

Category: Leo Kanell

  • How Sam Walton Built Walmart with Smart Financing

    How Sam Walton Built Walmart with Smart Financing

    Over the last year I have read a significant amount of books from successful business magnates and icons.  My most recent book is one of the best I have read it is, “Made In America” Sam Walton.”  It is 2018 and it has been 26 years since Sam Walton passed away, but not before he left a legacy by building up Walmart the largest retailer in the world.  Sam Walton was 100% self made and due to incredible vision and an obsession of testing new and innovative ideas was able to grow Walmart into the incredible organization it has become.  What most people don’t know is that Sam Walton was able to establish hundreds of Walmart stores due to his ability to smartly finance the growth of his business, without the astute financing he would never have grown Walmart to the business it has become today.

    Sam began his retail career by working a sales job at JC Penny’s and that was his first job right out of college.  At that point he began to envision setting up his own store to manage.  He was interrupted by world war 2 and served in the military for a few years and when the war was finished he knew exactly what he was going to do, he was going to set up a variety store in Newport, Arkansas.  He had saved $5,000 himself and was able to secure a loan of $20,000 in order to start his business.  The business began to grow immediately thanks to the innovative actions that Sam took.  At that time Sam was building his first stores in smaller populated areas of Arkansas and in order to generate interested customers he needed to do new things.  So what he did was discover that soft ice cream was going to help attract a lot of customers to his store, so he immediately secured a bank loan for $1,800 and set up the ice cream machine out in front of his store.  It was unprecedented at the time and the machine led to significant growth in his store.

    Over the next several years Sam Walton borrowed to the “hilt” as he described it in order to set up more stores and grow the business, at first he set up a couple of stores and later he began to set up dozens of stores each year, all while carrying significant personal risk to himself and his family by ultimately personally guaranteeing millions of dollars in loans and this was back in the 1950’s and 60’s when a million dollars was a decent amount of money.  The point I’m making is that without his intelligence in securing significant funding from multiple banks and lenders all across the country Walmart would never have become the most dominant retailer in the world that it is now.  So while some people like Mark Cuban may have said it is “stupid” to start a business on a loan, in reality most successful businesses are started by securing affordable financing and the majority of businesses are able to grow with capital secured by smart financing.  Well, when Sam passed away he was far and away the wealthiest man in the world, and if he were alive today his wealth would total $160 Billion dollars which is more than what the current richest person in the world is worth although Jeff Bezos is on his way to breaking that mark.

    Indeed, smart financing is a vital key for most businesses to get off the ground and grow into a long term sustainable business.

  • Introducing the BUSINESS FUNDING FORMULA book

    Introducing the BUSINESS FUNDING FORMULA book

    CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS THE BUSINESS FUNDING FORMULA?

    Now that you’ve come across this book you’re probably wondering what exactly is the business funding formula and how will it help me? If you’re reading this, then you are either an entrepreneur or an aspiring entrepreneur and you have realized that if you simply had access to capital and funding you would have a real chance at building not only the business of your dreams, but the life of your dreams as well. The ability to secure capital can be the difference between success and failure in business, it is absolutely that important.
    Before the recession of 2008 & 2009 it was not complicated to secure funding at your bank to launch or grow your business, but since then it has taken incredible creativity and knowledge to secure funding especially for a new business with unproven financials. Even for businesses with history and financials it is still difficult and even though several years have passed since the recession of 2008-09, banks and lenders still mostly lend to the top 5 to 10% of businesses and largely ignore the other 90% of small businesses who desperately need access to capital to have a chance to bring their products and services to market. To make matters worse the proliferation of many different high rate finance products and expensive lenders has made it even more confusing to find the best funding options to launch and grow your business.
    The Business Funding Formula was created to give all business owners a step by step process to follow in order to secure the best funding possible to turn your entrepreneurial pursuits into the truth. The funding formula has existed for decades and has had tremendous effect on some well known businesses that you recognize and probably use on a weekly or even daily basis. Without these business owners’ understanding of the funding formula it is very likely that their businesses would not exist any where near the level they do or may not even have survived without the funding formula.
    The business funding formula is the holy grail for jump starting your new or existing business. You’ve probably seen some studies done by ivy league schools and other organizations and many times one of the top reasons that new businesses fail is due to undercapitalization, a complicated term to describe running out of money. I don’t care if you are selling lemonade on a table outside of your house or a more complicated business model, it takes money to buy the cups, the lemonade, the table and the signs in the front yard to market your lemonade; so although it is popular to talk about starting a business without any type of up front money it is simply for the most part not part of the capitalistic world we live in. The business funding formula will break down the top funding options available for entrepreneurs including: SBA, unsecured loans, lines of credit, merchant cash advances, corporate credit, income and every funding option available on the planet today. Most importantly it will take all of this seemingly complicated BS and break it down into easily understandable steps to guide you to the best funding that you can possibly qualify for. It will also provide you with hacks and tactics to save thousands on any financing you need for the rest of your life. This book will also pull back the curtain to how your credit score is calculated and how lenders make lending decisions. The business funding formula is a tool that every entrepreneur needs in order to achieve massive growth for a business.

    Buy the Book here!

  • The Power of Belief

    The Power of Belief

    The last 6 months has been simply ludicrous in terms of the hoopla surrounding the 2016 presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and I think we can all agree that the results have been even more shocking. Even for those that supported Trump they were incredibly shocked at the results of the election on November 8th. That said and regardless of whether you support Trump or not there are some very important lessons to learn about the power of Belief.

    Be Unreasonable

    Whenever the media would ask Trump about the polls which showed he was losing substantially if he was worried or concerned his response would always be unreasonable in that he would not even entertain the thought, but would instead say things like we are doing very well in the polls or we’re going to win in Florida, Pennsylvania and make history.  Even the most ardent of Trump supporters had a tough time agreeing with those predictions because nearly all of the news and polling showed Trump losing nationally and in each of those states.  Due to the power of belief that Trump had in his mission to become president and the fact that he was completely unreasonable and nonobjective about his chances for winning there is no doubt that this connected with his voters in those rust belt states of Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

    Feed the Belief

    Take an honest evaluation of your own belief in the goals and things you want to achieve with your life, when doubt creeps in to your mind or comes from those that love you and let’s be honest often times those that love us are the biggest naysayers and doubters of our goals and missions in life, so ask yourself do you entertain those doubts or are you unreasonable and do you feed your belief with consistently positive assertions that you WILL accomplish your goals?  The power of belief becomes powerful when each day we review our goals and write them down and continue throughout every day for weeks, months and years we feed in to those beliefs with constant positive affirmation and of course massive action towards those goals.  If you are a whiner, negative in any way or entertain doubt you will lose, if you refuse to give in to those doubts regardless of where they come from then success has a chance to enter your life!

  • To be Self Aware is to Be Successful

    To be Self Aware is to Be Successful

    One of the biggest epidemics is that we constantly lie to ourselves. ‘Excucitis’  is a little disease that lives inside each of us. 90 percent of the country are not making six figures.  Being self aware is being honest with your shortcomings.

    Be aware of your weaknesses and bring in other experts that fill the gap in those areas and always be learning from those around you. Don’t be afraid to take honest constructive criticism. The majority of the population live with excuses to make themselves feel better.

    Being self aware is vital to having a successful business. Find the weak areas and make them strong! Remember, it’s okay to fail and make mistakes. Pick yourself up and learn from what went wrong. You really only ever fail if you give up.

    Look for mentors and those who have already crossed the peaks that you are looking to climb.  Be self aware of new skills that you must learn.  We often have this idea that being humble is about staying quiet and acting somewhat introverted and from what I have constantly seen from incredibly successful people is that they were bold in looking for mentors and books to teach them to accomplish what they want to do.  Yet they were humble enough to look for the answers by digging deep to find mentors and in particular information online and hidden in key books that will guide them to success.  That means you must be self aware of your strengths and the knowledge you are missing so that you can find it in a mentor or books.

    For example, let’s say you have a teenager or two that is becoming difficult for you to manage and guide to success.  IF you are humble that means you will dig into great books of experts who have figured out some simple keys that lead to success with raising teenagers.  This is true really with any topic that you wish to gain mastery over so don’t hold back, go for it, make it happen, be aggressive in searching for others who have succeeded where you want to.  Be opportunistic in looking for mentors.  Today in church I came across a big time real estate developer and you can bet that I will bring value to his life so that I can earn time and wisdom from him.  Life is that simple, find mentors, tell yourself the truth and know your strengths and weaknesses and you will rise above it all!

  • Startup Business Funding Trends 2016

    Startup Business Funding Trends 2016

    Leo Kanell discusses the best funding and financing options available for entrepreneurs in 2016. For more tips and info regarding funding for entrepreneurs go to www.leokanell.com.

    For the majority of business startups bootstrapping is most often the path taken to launch your new business. For most they are under capitalized which puts them in a tremendously vulnerable position. In this video Leo Kanell explains the top 3 trending options for startup businesses to secure funding. These are options that can be available to any entrepreneur.
    #leokanell
    That said, some of these startup funding options are easier than others. So by following the newest movements with lenders you will increase your odds for successfully securing capital significantly. Leo Kanell teaches entrepreneurs how to creatively secure affordable financing to fuel the growth of their new or existing business. Nothing puts a smile on his face like knowing that the latest entrepreneur was able to secure funding and launch their business thanks to his expert guidance on the subject of startup business funding.

     

  • Startup Funding Options

    For most new startup businesses the task of securing some startup funding capital can be extremely daunting and in reality where to start is the most difficult thing to know.  Most new entrepreneurs immediately think of going to their local bank and seeing if they will qualify for some money, let’s begin by looking at that experience and then other options after that.

    When you go and see your bank it’s important to understand that most banks do not lend to brand new businesses since they are unproven and a high risk.  That means the only option you will find at a bank will be the infamous SBA option.  SBA has 3 loan types, the 7(a), 504 and the express.  The 504 and express almost always are exclusively for established businesses with 2 to 3 years of profitable business tax returns.  The 7(a) is the only option that can realistically be used for startup businesses.

    Qualifying for a 7(a) loan can be a difficult task, in reality it comes down to a lot of things like your business plan, industry type, your personal credit, but indeed the most important factor will definitely be whether you have any assets or collateral.  Acceptable collateral types will generally be significant equity in your home or other real estate properties, newer equipment with a strong value and generally a 401k or IRA.  So if you have those types of collateral then you stand a good chance at securing a startup SBA 7(a) loan.

    You will also need some type of down payment usually 10 to 25% is what most lenders want, for new businesses the percentage is usually much closer to 25%.  So you have to ask yourself what percentage of new startups actually have that type of collateral and down payment available for their business to secure startup funding?  Since I have personally spoken with thousands of new business owners in my experience it would seem that less than 5% of new entrepreneurs have those kinds of qualifications, assets and collateral.  So if you don’t possess those items then what other options are there?

    In reality the best option will be a mixture of unsecured credit lines.  These credit lines do not require extensive income documentation or collateral, in most cases you just need a 680 credit score to qualify for them.  The monthly payments are low and affordable and they are flexible tools.  Even if you are successful at securing an SBA loan, an SBA loan will often not be able to go towards working capital, so in reality you will still need additional funds for working capital like paying payroll, marketing and other costs.  For most startups unsecured credit lines are your best bet.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

    Leo Kanell teaches entrepreneurs how to secure affordable capital for their new or existing businesses.  For more info go to http://www.leokanell.com

  • Credit Inquiries Have Ruined My LIfe

    Over the years I have helped my clients secure over $120 Million dollars in funding and I’ve learned a few important items that lead to success when securing funding for a business.  One of the most misunderstood concepts that is constantly be spread across the country is the idea that a few credit inquiries aka “hard credit pulls” are going to drop my credit score 100 points and ruin my life.  Today I’m going to tackle this common misconception with the facts of when credit inquiries do negatively impact you and when they are irrelevant to your funding options.

    HOW INQUIRIES AFFECT YOUR CREDIT SCORE

    So let’s look first at how credit inquiries can affect your credit score, first of all credit inquiries make up about 5 to 10% of your credit score, in most cases the percentage is closer to 5% so will 6 to 8 inquiries drop your credit score 100 points, the answer is definitely no, it might lower the score by 15 to 20 points and that is about the biggest impact.  Of course if you go hog wild and have your credit pulled 25 to 30 times in a 30 day period then that could lower your score a lot more, in reality though most people have 2 to 4 credit pulls every 2 months and that is not going to make a big impact on your credit score.

    SECURED LOANS

    Let’s say that you are looking for a mortgage or an auto loan and you go to a few different mortgage and auto lenders to look for financing.  The good news is that the three major credit bureaus will actually count most inquiries that are mortgage or auto loan related as one inquiry when they are pulled within a 2 week window.  The credit bureaus understand that you are looking for the best deal and as such they don’t punish you.  Now regarding the effect inquiries will have on actually securing the mortgage or auto loan, well the answer is there is really no impact, secured lenders like mortgage lenders and auto lenders know that they have collateral and so in case of a client not making their payment and defaulting on a mortgage or auto loan they can take back the collateral, so what that means is they don’t generally take credit inquiries as an important factor in underwriting your loan.  At most a mortgage lender will require a letter of explanation for what the inquiries are.  In reality credit inquiries rarely have much of an impact on your ability to qualify for a mortgage or auto loan.

    UNSECURED LOANS

    Unsecured credit lines, loans and credit cards are affected much more with inquiries.  Unsecured lenders take on more risk than secured lenders so if you try to get a credit card or two and already have several other inquiries on your credit report in the weeks prior to applying for a new credit card then the credit card lender will assume you already secured financing elsewhere and in many cases they will automatically decline your request for a new credit card or credit line.  Thus in all of lending the biggest impact that credit inquiries can have on you as a borrower is when you apply for any type of unsecured credit lines or loans.  Some lenders nowadays will actually do a soft pull on your credit report which will have no impact, but most lenders will do a hard pull.  Either way you will want to pay special attention to hard credit pulls.

  • Why Mark Cuban is Wrong about Starting a Business on a Business Loan

    Shark Tank has become one of the most fascinating shows on tv regarding entrepreneurship and capitalism.  One of its current “Sharks” is Mark Cuban, he is a man I respect immensely in terms of business development, entrepreneurship and creating wealth.  He has also been quoted as saying that he would never start a business on a loan.  Why would he say that?  There is the fact that it is more profitable for himself and his show to give capital to entrepreneurs for ownership and equity in these new businesses, if the entrepreneur figured out how to secure financing then clearly that would not benefit the premise of the show.  That said, he may really believe that is an important aspect of starting a business.  I think he is completely wrong and I’m going to prove it with some concrete examples.

    I have started multiple multi-million dollar businesses and each of them was started with some sort of loan or funding that I had to creatively secure in order to get these businesses off of the ground.  So from my own first hand experiences I can tell you that in order to begin and at several turning points in my businesses the ability to secure capital for them has been a tremendous key.  So that said, allow me to share a much better example of businesses succeeding due to a business loan or some sort.  

    Allow me to present Walmart.  We all have been to Walmart and have witnessed its growth first hand.  Decades earlier it was begun with one store by a great man named Sam Walton.  Sam started his first store with a loan of $20,000 and $5,000 he had saved up.  He continuously tinkered with the discounting methodologies that he would develop over the years to create the biggest global retailer in the world and he would never have succeeded at growing it the way he did without constant financing.

    At one of his first stores he secured a loan for $1,800 to finance an ice cream machine that he used to sell ice cream outside his store and attract new customers.  He was nervous about the loan, but it ended up increasing his sales significantly.  As he began to grow from his first variety stores to his first full fledged actual big box store Walmart he went around looking for capital from investors.  Each investor passed on his business model believing it would not succeed long term.  So Sam “borrowed to the hilt” and risked all of his personal assets in order to build Walmart and grow it exponentially.  Walmart now has thousands of locations worldwide and had annual sales recently of nearly $500 Billion Dollars.  It all started with a loan and was grown with significant funding.  Additionally if Sam were still alive today he would be the world’s richest man and be valued at 160 Billion nearly double what the current richest man Bill Gates is worth (about $80 Billion) so suffice it to say understanding how to start a business with a loan can be one of the best decisions that a business owner ever makes.  Comprehending the best methods to secure growth capital as your business expands can be vital to long term growth and success.

  • The Quest for Excellent Health

    So when it comes to your health there are not many priorities that rank higher.  You can have all of the power and money in the world and it will all mean absolutely nothing if you do not have good health to enjoy it.  Indeed no matter what is most important to you whether that is family, recreation or good ol-fashioned hard work to have good health is to be able to enjoy what you love.  So that said let’s take a look at some of the keys to good health today including diet, exercise and planning and focus.

    DIET

    Ok so we have all at various times experimented with a multitude of diets, so what is really effective?  The truth is that it completely depends on what your goals and focus are.  For example if you are looking to lose weight and fat and become more lean which the majority of the population is trying to do then a more refined diet is needed.  However, if you are looking to increase muscle mass and grow muscle size then your diet will differentiate substantially from that of someone looking to lose weight.  Let’s focus on what most people are looking to accomplish which is to lose fat, excess weight and increase energy.  I have spent countless hours researching this and when I was overweight and out of shape I found the following formula to be absolutely effective at cutting that nasty gunk and grime we call fat cells.  There are essentially 2 items in the foods we eat that absolutely lead to that frustrating spare tire, they are starches and sugars.  Starches refer to those tasty breads, pastas, cereals, french fries and most italian foods that provide energy but very few health benefits.  These foods are more difficult to digest, they slow down our metabolism and frankly put us to sleep.  Have you ever gone out to lunch at that great Italian place and then afterwards wanted nothing more than to take a long nap?  The reason is that starches simply slow us down from a physical standpoint.  Sugars while not having the negative slow down effect that their sisters carbs have have a similar impact on the fat cells we take on.  Sauces, sweets, candies, cakes, ice cream and any food with corn syrup and fructose are all foods that are going to often lead to unwanted fat gain.  So at this point you’re saying wow, this really sucks a lot of my favorite foods lead to straight up fat gain, yes this is sadly true, there are now more than ever tasty alternatives that I will share with you in future posts.  Bottom line you must focus on consuming lots of veggies, most fruits and lean meats, I love what one fitness coach said, “if man makes it don’t eat it, if nature makes it, eat it up!”  Suffice it to say you’re going to need to dig deeper and focus on avoiding starches and sugars if you want to kill the spare tire around your waist.

    EXERCISE

    There are a plethora and I do mean plethora of workout options in existence today and each of them is going to be better than sitting you butt on your couch and doing nothing day after day, but to get the best results there are some things to keep in mind.  Many workouts are either focused on cardio vascular (cardio) activity that gets you moving and your heart pumping or they are all about strength training.  What I have found to be most effective is a combination of both.  So 2-3 times a week I will do cardio and 2-3 times a week I will do strength training.  I typically rotate each day, so on Monday I may do cardio for 30 minutes and then, the next day on Tuesday I will do strength training.  Adding a little yoga, martial arts and pilates once a week can be extremely beneficial and lead to stronger joints and tendons.

    SCHEDULE IT OR FAIL

    The number one reason that the majority of Americans and good people around the world are overweight and obese is not because they are lazy, but because they simply do not schedule their diet and exercise plan.  The key to success with anything is to have a concise time when you make your game plan, the New England Patriots and their outstanding coaching staff have every minute of their practice and game film study planned to the t, there is no wasted time or movement everything is done with purpose, if you want to be physically fit then you need goals and schedules, if you know you work from 9 to 5 Monday thru Friday and that you must leave your house by 8:30 am to get to work on time, then you either need to schedule your workout at 6:30 or 7:00 am or 6;30 or 7:00 pm at night.  For most people there isn’t a snow ball’s chance in hell that they will work out after a grueling day at the office so working out first thing in the morning is the best time, if you schedule it then the fitness will come.  Additionally with your diet if you don’t plan out your means and what you will buy at the grocery store then plan on failing at your fitness.  You should plan out your meals and groceries at least once a week to stay on target.

     

    Well that is a solid generic game plan that will lead to being healthy, hot and fit!

    For more tips at health transformation just check in to our blog.

  • Leo Kanell Knows Freedom is the Key

    You may ask yourself how is it that in the last 240 years has the world in general progressed so incredibly with technology and improving the way we live as humanity.  According to Leo Kanell the truth is it all begins with freedom, there is a reason that technology did not evolve quite so rapidly under certain elements of time versus others.  For example, much of the development began with the Italian renaissance where there was sufficient freedom to develop new products and inventions.  Many great artists and scientists like Leonardo Da Vinci (who Leo Kanell was named after) and Michaelangelo came during that time.  Where there is true freedom the opportunity to prosper exists.

    So with such unprecedented freedom in existence in society today in the year 2015 how is it that so many people really still live with so little freedom.  To me freedom is the ability to make our own choices, maybe that means I’m not going to work tomorrow, but will instead go wakeboarding on the lake with my family all day.  Perhaps it means that I will travel to learn more about a new culture or way of life.  In reality though the majority of people are not free to make such decisions and we all know exactly why that is.  Leo Kanell says it is because the majority of the population is subservient to those that control and mange their own enterprises.  I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, but to obtain true freedom it all begins with one question, are you an employer or an employee?  It really is that simple, either I work to create my own freedom through wealth creation or I am working to help someone else create their freedom through my efforts.

    In the Count of Monte Cristo novel, Napoleon Bonaparte truthfully states, “in life we are kings or pawns.”  Truer words were never spoken, so which will it be for you, king or pawn?